ABOUT BOTTLED WATER...
Bottled water is drinking water, usually spring water or
mineral water, or simply water that has been treated, and is sold in a sealed
portable bottle. The worldwide bottled water industry is worth an estimated
$22bn annually.
For health reasons, it is preferred in areas where the water is either too
polluted or infested, but nowadays, bottled water is becoming increasingly
favoured over tap water because it usually contains far less fluoride and
chlorine, which are often included in tap water during processing. See
fluoridation and chlorination.
As with many heavily marketed products, there may be a certain snob value to
some of the more expensive brands of bottled water.
In a somewhat ironic twist, many brands are marketed focusing on both the taste
and the purity of the water; however, pure water has no taste.
Bottled water sources
The most common types of bottled water are:
mineral water - spring water that has a higher mineral content
purified water - surface or underground water that has been treated for human
consumption
spa water - water taken from a spa
carbonated water (sparkling) - treated with carbon dioxide to make it bubbly
spring water - water that was taken from a spring
well water - water taken from a well
It should be noted that in some countries which do not have sufficiently
developed water treatment facilities, it is preferable to consume prepackaged
water. The large vats (up to a few litres) that such water is sold in may, or
may not, be considered bottled water.
Bottled water in the United States
Bottled water is a somewhat contentious topic in the United States, where the
water treatment system is quite sophisticated (so the tap water is drinkable).
Some claim that the consumption of the more expensive brands of bottled water is
a form of snobbery. In addition, a lot of the bottled water is actually very
close to, or in fact, tap water. Some bottled waters, such as Penta Water even
claim to have a new structure of water with associated health benefits, though
this is generally regarded as pseudoscience.
What's more, bottled water can cost up to 10,000 times the amount of tap water
by volume. That is, maintaining municipal water systems typically cost 0.1-0.2
cents per gallon, where a 1/2 liter bottle of water at 99 cents ends up costing
around 8$ a gallon.
Bottled water history in USA
The increased use of bottle water in US recently may have been contributed to
several factors. In 1993, Cryptosporidium caused 400,000 people to get sick in
Wisconsin. This led to a sensitized media which widely reported another far
smaller water infection that happened in Washington, DC in the year 2000.
Environmental Protection Agency mandated that tap water should have no more than
10 parts per billion of arsenic. A highly reported attempt was made to change
the requirement from the previous 10ppb to 50ppb. Coupled with these widely
reported incidents is a trend where many Americans are getting health conscious,
resulting in bottled water securing its place in their daily lives.
Regulations
In the United States, nutritional information on the water bottle must be
precise. Bottled water is regulated by the FDA, who demand suppliers use an
"approved source", which the FDA defines as:
[approved source] means a source of water...that has been inspected and the
water sampled, analyzed, and found to be of a safe and sanitary quality
according to applicable laws and regulations of state and local government
agencies having jurisdiction.
However, the FDA does not define guidelines for which regulations may be
considered applicable, nor set requirements for water sources in the absence of
applicable laws. Additionally, bottled water suppliers are not required to
document the approval of their sources. Water bottlers are permitted to sell
contaminated water if, and only if, their labelling notes the water contains
"excessive bacteria" or "excessive chemical substances". Water bottlers are
additionally not required to test for the presence of E. coli, cryptosporidium,
giardia, asbestos, or certain organic compounds such as benzenes; [1]. However,
most bottled water is in fact heavily tested.
As regards to what constitutes each type of different water, individual states
regulate with their own laws precisely what mineral content needs to be in the
water for it to be "mineral water". In the US, the minimal mineral content is
250 parts per million of minerals in a litre of water. With these figures,
certain mineral waters in the US would only qualify as spring water in some
other countries.
The source of this article is
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this
article is licensed under the
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